Search results

This article deals with the determination of the benefits of environmental assets, involving an application for noise. In determining these benefits the so‐called Cost of Illness Method is applied. An important part of the research is the estimation of the relationship between environmental pollution (noise) and the number of lost workdays. This relationship is estimated by using the Lisrel technique with latent variables. The empirical results show that, for the sample concerned, a relationship between noise and lost workdays does not exist. The research also shows that noise causes annoyance and that annoyance influences people′s wellbeing negatively.

Air quality, noise and proximity to urban infrastructure can arguably have an important impact on the quality of life. Environmental quality (the price of good health) has become a central tenet for consumer choice in urban locales when deciding on a residential neighbourhood. Unlike the market for most tangible goods, the market for environmental quality does not yield an observable per unit price effect. As no explicit price exists for a unit of environmental quality, this paper aims to use the housing market to derive its implicit price and test whether these constituent elements of health and well-being are indeed capitalised into property prices and thus implicitly priced in the market place.

A considerable number of studies have used hedonic pricing models by incorporating spatial effects to assess the impact of air quality, noise and proximity to noise pollutants on property market pricing. This study presents a spatial analysis of air quality and noise pollution and their association with house prices, using 2,501 sale transactions for the period 2013. To assess the impact of the pollutants, three different spatial modelling approaches are used, namely, ordinary least squares using spatial dummies, a geographically weighted regression (GWR) and a spatial lag model (SLM).

The findings suggest that air quality pollutants have an adverse impact on house prices, which fluctuate across the urban area. The analysis suggests that the noise level does matter, although this varies significantly over the urban setting and varies by source.

Air quality and environmental noise pollution are important concerns for health and well-being. Noise impact seems to depend not only on the noise intensity to which dwellings are exposed but also on the nature of the noise source. This may suggest the presence of other externalities that arouse social aversion. This research presents an original study utilising advanced spatial modelling approaches. The research has value in further understanding the market impact of environmental factors and in providing findings to support local air zone management strategies, noise abatement and management strategies and is of value to the wider urban planning and public health disciplines.

A concept and an implementation of the multimedia computer system for the monitoring of environmental noise is presented in the paper. The system provides an extension to the Internet‐based system for testing hearing which was engineered and launched in 1999. A considerable portion of hearing diseases is caused by excessive industry, urban and traffic noise or any unwanted sounds occurring in everyday life. Consequently, it is expected that a reduction of hearing diseases occurrence will be achieved as a result of implementation of the solutions that have been developed within the project scope. The latest technological advances in information technology were used in the course of the project realisation. Consequently, it is shown in the paper that the presented solutions are based on some innovative ideas and inexpensive technical means for measuring noise and vibration allowing fast evaluation of its influence on the psychosomatic and the vegetative system. It is expected that implementation of the noise telemonitoring system covering whole country will contribute to rising awareness of society and authorities with regard of the influence of noise on health. Furthermore, it turns out to be an essential factor in the future improvement of the environmental noise conditions.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impacts of the noise from the diesel engine power generators used for production activities in an urban environment.

This study has used the Enterprise Edition of NoiseMap 2000 Version 2.7.1 to investigate the impacts of the noise from the diesel engines electric power generators used in a factory in Ikorodu, an urban environment in Lagos, Nigeria. Five sections of the factory with diesel engines electric power generators were considered. The immediate and distant environments covering about 10 km of the factory host environment were considered as receptors to the noise for this study.

It was found out that when all the generators operate simultaneously in the factory, the ambient noise was 30.0-152.5 dB(A) with the minimum contribution within the factory being 70.0-84.4 dB(A) and the maximum contribution of 57.2-70.8 dB(A) outside the factory fence line. Though the maximum noise is 152.5 dB(A), the maximum noise of 70.8 dB(A) beyond the fence line shows a compliance with 70 dB(A) industrial and commercial area limit but breaches the 45 dB(A) and 55 dB(A) residential area limit of the World Bank.

As much as it would be desirable ambient noise level could not be measured in all the receptors’ locations covered by the modeling. However, the capability of the modeling software adopted makes this to have no negative impact on the quality of the findings of this study.

The study will assist the public to determine the noise level safe region around diesel engine electric power generators.

The paper highlights the challenges in which ambient noise from the use of off-grid generators used for industrial purposes could pose to the neighboring receptor environments.

Environmental degradation resulting from human activities may adversely affect human health in multiple ways. Until now, policies aimed at mitigating environmental problems such as climate change, environmental pollution and damage to biodiversity have failed to clearly identify and drive the potential benefits of these policies on health. The conducted study assesses and demonstrates how specific environmental policies and instruments influence perceived human health in order to ensure input for a data-driven decision process.

The study was conducted for the 2004–2020 period in European Union (EU) countries with the use of dynamic panel data modeling. Verification of specific policies' impact on dependent variables allows to indicate this their effectiveness and importance. As a result of the computed dynamic panel data models, it has been confirmed that a number of significant and meaningful relationships between the self-perceived health index and environmental variables can be identified.

There is a strong positive impact of environmental taxation on the health index, and the strength of this relationship causes effects to be observed in the very short term, even the following year. In addition, the development of renewable energy sources (RES) and the elimination of fossil fuels from the energy mix exert positive, although milder, effects on health. The reduction of ammonia emissions from agriculture and reducing noise pollution are other health-supporting factors that have been shown to be statistically valid. Results allow to identify the most efficient policies in the analyzed area in order to introduce those with the best results or a mix of such measures.

The results of the authors' research clearly indicate the health benefits of measures primarily aimed at improving environmental factors, such as environmental taxes in general. The authors have also discovered an unexpected negative impact of an increase in the share of energy taxes in total taxes on the health index. The presented study opens several possibilities for further investigation, especially in the context of the rapidly changing geopolitical environment and global efforts to respond to environmental and health challenges. The authors believe that the outcome of the authors' study may provide new arguments to policymakers pursuing solutions that are not always easily acceptable by the public.

Noise measurement and social questionnaire surveys in three residential areas around Mehrabad International Airport (Tehran, Iran) were based upon randomly selected dwellings in each area. A total of 193 individuals responded and many are annoyed and dissatisfied with aircraft noise and in consequence they would like to move. Aircraft noise is the strongest negative environmental factor affecting the residents in the vicinity of Mehrabad Airport and it could be a hazard for their health.

In recent years, in parallel with the increasing air traffic and the number of passengers in air transport, the number of people exposed to aircraft-induced noise has increased significantly. Especially people living in the areas close to the airports are affected by noise emission during the landing, take-off, taxi and ground operations. Negative effects of noise such as sleep disturbance, lack of concentration, anxiety and high blood pressure cardiac diseases were determined directly or indirectly for human health. For this reason, examining the noise effect caused by aircraft and determining the necessary measures to be taken is very important for the sustainable development of aviation. In the International Eskisehir Hasan Polatkan Airport (LTBY), this paper aims to calculate a noise mapping following international standards in line with the directives of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Also, Annex 8, “Airworthiness of Aircrafts” and Annex 16, “Environmental Protection Volume 1 Aircraft Noise”, which were taken at the International Civil Aviation Convention, were proposed to determine the exposure caused by aircraft noise.

In this paper, noise levels for the day (07.00–19.00), evening (19.00–23.00) and night (23.00–07.00) period around LTBY were predicted and calculated by the use of the IMMI software according to the “ECAC Doc. 29-Interim” method for the prediction and computation of the aircraft noise.

According to the calculated/mapped values, in the 24 hours (Lden), the noise level is 65 dB (A) and above. In the day time zone, the noise level is 63 dB (A) and above. When the calculations for the evening time zone are examined, the noise level is above 58 dB (A). When the calculations for the night time frame are examined, it is calculated that there is no dwelling that is affected by the noise level above 53 dB (A).

Along with future improvements, it is recommended to be applied to other civil airports.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no previous research in the literature on aircraft noise mapping of LTBY. Also, unlike the software commonly used in other works in the literature, IMMI software was used in this study. Such investigations should be carried out in other civil airports in the coming years to struggle with noise emissions and noise control. If noise boundary values are exceeded, action plans should be developed for a sustainable aviation concept. Along with future improvements, it is recommended to be applied to other civil airports.

This chapter addresses the political history of aircraft noise annoyance and its relationship to sustainability.

Using extensive case studies and secondary sources, the chapter shows how a particular approach to noise annoyance that emerged already accepted large-scale annoyance. The focus is directed towards the black boxing of political decisions with scientific knowledge.

This contribution demonstrates that noise annoyance policy has shaped citizens’ perceptions of aircraft sound and has intensified the associated annoyance. Finally, the discussion considers the significance of the participation of citizens and the political implications of these findings. Currently, participation is predominantly confined within a growth paradigm and reproduces tensions in ecological modernization policies. Participation and protest can inadvertently engage these tensions and question the participatory practices themselves. A moratorium on ‘growth’ might create the necessary space for fundamentally rethinking aviation and sustainability.